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2014年4月2日 星期三

I went to the 330 protest on 3/30, I don't have time to frame a proper article on such a serious subject, but here are some photos I took during that day. The dress code was black, and the main appeal of the protest was to protest against the government which had skipped all due process of law in the passing of the CSSTA, and which had used violent force on unarmed protesters.

The event invite and schedule of the protest on Facebook

I put on some fierce brows to fit the protest mood

All the major roads and intersections were blocked off, I didn't understand why they blocked off this road though, it was small and far from the protest site

suspicious looking pole.

That orange thing in the distance says that this bus stop is temporarily out of use.

Some distance behind this barricade is the Presidential Office.

It's very rare to see protests and so many police officers in Taiwan, so lots of people were taking photos, including me.

This is another intersection leading to the Presidential Office, hence the slew of policemen. I was wondering what the long sticks are for, but then I'm not sure if I want to find out.

The young lady in the center is handing out booklets to the older lady to the left. The young lady belongs to a religious group that pretends they are part of the protest and hands out religious booklets, I fell for it TWICE, thinking it was protest related material. How genius are they?!

The center gate was closed, forcing people to use the smaller gates to the side, but eventually the police opened the center gate too.

I don't know why I'm always scratching in candid photos...

This guy took a picture with the policeman in the middle. A dozen more people soon followed suit. I felt so sorry for the policeman....

This sign says "welcome publishers from China to visit Taiwan", which is kind of ironic.

The trucks says "Taiwan Independence" on them.

People mountain people sea!

An estimate of 500,000 people were at the protest.

The white banners on the overpass are by anti-protest groups. The cardboard following it cleverly turns its saying into one that fits the protest.

I was standing around when the crowd suddenly started to chant slogans. If you look very closely you can see there are people across the street holding ROC flags, they are anti-protest protesters.

This was so ridiculously organized. The person with the speaker was showing the participants to their seats as if this was a fancy restaurant.

Boxes were lined up to keep the protest area neat and tidy, with sides of the road spared for emergency passing.

Volunteers were handing out sunflowers, donated by supporters. The elderly lady was asking for one, but he didn't give it to her, since she was not part of the protest.

Portable toilets were donated to fulfill people's needs.

free crackers for all!

Real protest related material!

One of the few media that has been putting out unbiased reports.

The sign says "Ketagalan Boulevard is full" Te original plan was to fill the boulevard with 100,000 people, but the protest ended up having more than 500,000. There was no room so I had to leave.

Big screens were set up for those who could not see the actual stage, meaning thousands of people.

Volunteers making temporary signs.

The signs are to redirect people to protest sites other than Ketagalan Boulevard.

My original plan was to go the Ketagalan Boulevard, all the roads were either blocked by the police or by the people, and I ended up walking around for 4 hours. I guess some of them felt tired like me.

I went home because I had a family dinner later, but as I left, people were still going to the protest.